ALKHOBAR, 24 January 2003 — The International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA) scored its second win in a lopsided game against PhilCosa, 81-24, in the OFWC-EP Basketball Tournament held at Al-Ettifaq Sports Club.
IPSA’s firepower was too much for the struggling Philippine Community School in Alkhobar (PhilCosa) as the former outscored and outrebounded the latter in all departments. The defending champion IPSA pulled away by as much as 25 points early in the first quarter.
The unstoppable duo of Ray-An Fidel and Sheridan Sol were hot, scoring from the perimeter area and staging fastbreaks and inside plays. Sol was chosen as the Chowking’s best player of the game. For PhilCosa, it was Aaron Aves, Brent Anotado and Gerald Delos Santos who led all scorers. Tibay-Sigma claimed its second win by dumping Batang Rizal, 98-84, in an epic battle of two unbeaten teams. TS star players Asmad and Valencia stole the show again by scoring 30 and 25 points, respectively. The tightly-fought game had several lead exchanges during the first two quarters.
The Asmad-Valencia tandem went berserk in the third quarter firing on all cylinders while bewildered Batang Rizal team was helpless against the onslaught. The high-leaping Valencia displayed phenomenal scoring fastbreak and inside plays. Asmad pocketed both the Chowking’s best player and Phuket’s 3-Point King awards.
Batang Rizal John Resus played an outstanding game but unable to get support from his teammates while ace player Jun Ancheta was sidelined due to injury. CISTA Serenaders rebounded from an earlier loss and won back in their third game.
CISTA crushed Saad Specialist Hopital, 119-77. CISTA had its feast day outgunning SSH who played with only five players during the entire game. Chowking’s best player of the game was Rollon.
Other scorers were Bolotaulo with 20 points, Paragele 13, Soliano 12, and the trio of Caldino, Bermejo and Patalinghug each with 10 points. For SSH, it was Philip Cabarles who played with a big heart scoring 32 points but was not enough to win that very important game. The mighty Surigao Warriors fortified their bid as one of the top contenders in Group 2 by wearing down M. Al-Mojil Powertools by a 17-point margin, 99-82.
Al-Mojil was unable to match the offensive patterns of Surigao’s Isnoor Manabilang who outscored and hustled Mojil’s Bill Solano and Arnold Haloc. Manabilang’s performance won him the best player of the game.
It was the second consecutive win for the Warriors in three outiings. For the losing Al-Mojil squad, R. Eleazar was all over the court scoring 22 points to keep Al-Mojil on the thick of the fight in the first half. But Surigao Warriors sparked back and staged a 12-0 salvo that gave them a 20-point lead and the game. Aujan Rani nipped El-Salama Radiators Company, 90-77. Enriquez buried four 3-pointers to earn the Phuket’s 3-Point King of the game and the Chowking’s best player.
Aujan dominated the boards with defensive rebounds as they mounted their lead to double figures. Enriquez pumped in 27 points followed by Dennis Garchitorena who contributed 19 points in the winning effort. For El-Salama, Barcelona scored 26 points with Varquez and Bue scoring 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Universal Motors Agency (UMA) gambled on its ace player Herosa and paid off with a hard-earned victory over winless Barangay Sauditel, 66-57. The game was physical throughout but UMA patiently hang on to notch its first win in two games. Herosa zeroed in through the painted area with his patented off-balance and acrobatic shots making every point counts with cheering crowd almost at their feet. The heat carried on to the final quarter when UMA started to gain the lead. UMA’s Herosa was undomitable inside the paint while J. Aldovino went red hot by converting 22 points from medium range.
Barangay Sauditel capitalized only on Musngi who scored 16 points. Sponsoring the OFWC-EP Open Basketball Tournament were The Filipino Channel, Autostar, McDonalds, Saudi Beds Relax, Aujan Softdrink Industries, Qatar Airways, Puerto Azul Restaurant, Chow King, Muhammad Al-Dossary, Phuket Restaurant, and Telemoney of Arab National Bank. (By Dinan Arana & Boy delos Santos) (Dinan Arana)
